1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to telephony, and in particular, but not exclusively, to a method and system for visually representing call tree interfaces for interaction by users of telephones such as, for example, wire-line telephones, wireless telephones, data network telephones, or Internet Protocol (IP) telephones.
2. Description of Related Art
Automated telephone answering systems are typically software applications that answer and process incoming telephone calls. So-called “call path” or “call tree” systems are automated telephone answering systems uzsed by businesses to reduce the costs of answering customers' calls. However, these cost reductions are usually offset by the inconveniences forced on the customers, who typically have to wade through a long, confusing and sometimes frustrating maze of options in menu form. These menus of options are commonly referred to as “call trees”.
A significant drawback of existing call tree systems is that they typically require callers to make multiple attempts before they can traverse the menu options successfully. For example, in the health care field, a patient might submit a payment request to an insurance provider for services performed by a healthcare provider. If the healthcare provider fails to submit the appropriate paperwork to the insurance provider in order to support the alleged services performed, the insurance provider might reject the patient's submission. Typically, the patient's only recourse is to call the insurance provider. If the insurance provider's answering system uses a complicated and/or confusing call tree, having to navigate such a complicated or confusing call tree only exacerbates the patient's concern and frustration about the rejected payment request.
Another drawback of existing call tree systems is that significantly different call trees are typically used in similar technologies. For example, a call tree used for voice mail in a cellular telephone system can be significantly different than the call tree used for voice mail in the wire-line telephone system within the same region.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have an improved method and system that allows a caller to interact with and modify a call tree, and thereby make it easier and quicker for the caller to navigate the call tree options successfully.